1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to beverage container lids, and particularly, disposable beverage container lids having retaining features for temporarily securing the lid onto a beverage container in a position such that the container contents are readily accessible.
2. Background Art
Lids for beverage containers have existed for many years and in a variety of forms. A typical disposable container lid for hot and cold drinks commonly served at fast food restaurants and coffee shops is usually formed from plastic or paper, and is optionally recyclable. Lids of this type are sometimes ergonomically designed to enable a consumer to drink from the container with little, if any, leakage or spillage, and often include means for tightly sealing the lid against the rim of a disposable beverage container.
Consumers of fast food and at coffee shops are increasingly concerned with health issues, which include the maintenance of sanitary conditions. Particularly in urban areas and other areas of high population density, individuals face risk of illness from communicable infection or disease, including illnesses transmitted through person-to-person contact, person-to-object contact, and contact with airborne pathogens. Thus, some businesses have embraced various efforts towards reducing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, such as the wearing of latex gloves during food preparation and the regular wiping of counters and tabletops with disinfectant cleansers.
One instance in which many individuals entertain an actual or perceived risk of encountering an unsanitary condition is when removing the lid of a disposable cup. For example, coffee shops typically provide their customers with coffee beverages, which require the customer to use a common public kiosk to add any desired cream and/or sugar, and to stir their beverage. Such kiosks are typically used by a large volume of customers, thus precipitating the perception of possible contamination of kiosk countertops. While many customers may desire to set the cup lid down on the kiosk countertop to facilitate the desired preparation of their beverage, they may be hesitant to do so due to the perceived risk of exposure to unsanitary conditions on countertops that may be touched and/or coughed on by large numbers of people. Thus, there exists a need for disposable beverage container lids that, when removed from the container, are temporarily storable so as not to contact the counter or tabletop—thereby eliminating a potential transmission path for infectious diseases.
It is known in different contexts to employ tethering systems or hanging systems to temporarily store a removable closure. For example, some charcoal grill lids include a mechanism inside the grill lid to facilitate the temporary storage of the lid along the outer periphery of the grill so as to eliminate the risk of fire or burning possibly incurred by placing a hot lid on the ground or another surface while cooking. Also, some automobile gasoline caps have cutouts to permit the gas caps to be hung along the top edge of a gasoline cap filler door to prevent users from forgetting and/or losing the gas cap during refueling. However, these applications do not address sanitary concerns raised by handling of beverage container lids, nor are they readily adaptable to the cost, manufacture, storage and packaging requirements of a disposable lid for a beverage container.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a disposable or recyclable lid for beverage containers that may be temporarily supported by the container in a position allowing access to the container contents, while minimizing any leakage or spillage of the container contents when secured to the container during normal use. It would also be desirable to provide such a lid for beverage containers that is inexpensive to manufacture and efficient to transport.